Articles

PA Serves on CDC Work Group on Traumatic Brain Injury

David Paulk, EdD, PA-C, DFAAPA, a member of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work group developing clinical diagnosis and management guidelines for pediatric acute mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), will write the introduction for public comment on the panel’s work. He is the sole PA in the work group.

While clinical guidelines are available for adults with mild TBI, no current U.S. guidelines help clinicians care for children and teens with mild TBI. These new guidelines are needed as the number of children and teens in the U.S. seeking care for mild TBI continues to increase.

Comprised of leading experts in the TBI field, the work group, which was established in summer 2012, will create the guidelines within an 18-24 month time frame.

Paulk is the director of the PA program at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. He is widely published in professional journals in the area of child maltreatment, and speaks nationally and internationally. Prior to becoming a PA, he was an EMT/paramedic. He is a graduate of the Alderson-Broaddus College PA program in Philippi, W.V.